Tag Archives: Peter Duchan

Justin Paul, Peter Duchan — And Joe Mantello

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 2 Comments

Joe Mantello is a huge name on Broadway. Justin Paul and Peter Duchan soon will be.

Mantello — a very hot director, with 2 Tony Awards among his many credits — has just been announced as director of the world premiere of “Dogfight.” The musical is set for Second Stage Theatre in June.

Justin Paul

“Dogfight”‘s book is by Peter Duchan. The music and lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.  Peter and Justin are Staples grads; Benj is very familiar locally, as a longtime collaborator with Justin.

Set in 1960s San Francisco, “Dogfight” follows Eddie Birdlace, a Marine about to ship out to Vietnam.  He and his friends hold a cruel competition — a “dogfight” – during which each man brings the ugliest date he can find to a party.

According to Playbill.com, “Eddie finds Rose, a diner waitress whose idealism and compassion challenge him on his last evening before he ships out. When he returns, a broken man, to a changed America, he may finally be ready for the redemptive kindness Rose offers.”

“Dogfight” won the 2011 Richards Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre.

Benj and Justin’s current projects include “A Christmas Story” (national tour 2011) and “James and the Giant Peach” (Goodspeed 2010).

Peter Duchan

Peter co-wrote the screenplay for “Breaking Upwards,” released by IFC Films last year. He also co-wrote a short, “Unlocked,” an Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, among others.

As for Joe — the only person with non-Westport connections in this story — he is currently represented on Broadway by “Wicked” and “Other Desert Cities.” He has also directed “Pal Joey,” “9 to 5 the Musical,” “The Odd Couple,” “Glengarry Ross, “Take Me Out, “The Vagina Monologues,” “Love! Valour! Compassion” and “The Santaland Diaries” — among many others.

Now he’s got one more accomplishment: Working with Justin Paul and Peter Duchan.

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Richard Rodgers Honors Peter Duchan And Justin Paul

Posted on February 15, 2011 | 2 Comments

While Americans were going ga-ga over a woman in an egg, the theater world shined a spotlight on a pair of Westporters.

Justin Paul

Last weekend “Dogfight” received a Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.  The studio production’s book is by Peter Duchan (book).  Music and lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.  Peter and Justin are Staples grads; Benj is very familiar locally, as a longtime collaborator with Justin. 

Rodgers Awards nurture talented composers and playwrights by subsidizing productions of their musicals in New York.  This year’s jury was chaired by Stephen Sondheim.

Set in 1960s San Francisco, “Dogfight” follows Eddie Birdlace, a Marine about to ship out to Vietnam.  He and his friends hold a cruel competition — a “dogfight” – during which each man brings the ugliest date he can find to a party.

Peter Duchan

According to Playbill.com, “Eddie finds Rose, a diner waitress whose idealism and compassion challenge him on his last evening before he ships out. When he returns, a broken man, to a changed America, he may finally be ready for the redemptive kindness Rose offers.”

Peter and Justin’s latest award is of interest to Westporters for another reason, beyond their hometown roots:   Richard Rodgers lived for many years on Hulls Highway, just over the Fairfield line.

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And After The Show, They Went In And Cleaned The Restrooms

Posted on March 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

Westporters attending this afternoon’s premiere of “Breaking Upwards” at Fairfield’s Community Theatre might have been surprised to see Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones and Peter Duchan (above, from left) manning the ticket booth.

It was all in a day’s work for the trio, who wrote, acted in, produced, directed, played music for, edited, and God-knows-what-elsed the 85-minute indie film.  Daryl and Peter are long-time Westporters, and Staples graduates.

A sold-out crowd loved the movie, and the Q-and-A session that followed.

Which was held by — of course — Daryl, Zoe and Peter.

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From “06880″ To The New York Times

Posted on March 27, 2010 | 3 Comments

On Tuesday “06880″ previewed “Breaking Upwards,” Westport writer/director/actor/producer Daryl Wein’s new movie that will be shown tomorrow (Sunday, March 28, 2 p.m.) at Fairfield’s Community Theatre.

This weekend, the New York Times joins the buzz.

We’re not talking a mini-review, all agate type and buried at the bottom of a Saturday page no one reads.

Not hardly.  Daryl; his girlfriend/co-writer/co-producer Zoe Lister-Jones; his Staples classmate/co-writer/associate producer Peter Duchan, and the entire cast and crew that helped make this indie film for the astonishingly low cost of $15,000, have scored a full-page feature story in tomorrow’s Sunday Times arts section.

A hugely laudatory story.

With 6 photos.

Including one plastered across the entire top of the page, showing Daryl and Zoe in exactly the type of scene that will be remembered years from now, when they’re accepting Oscars for lifetime achievements.

Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones, looking very movie-like. (Photo by Alex Bergman/Courtesy of the New York Times)

Writer Larry Rohter calls “Breaking Upwards” “almost a tutorial in how a do-it-yourself ethos can overcome the tough economics of the movie business.”

He describes the recruitment of the cast through Craigslist.  The clever use of inheritances and insurance to fund the film.  Daryl’s living room editing on a flat-screen TV.  Guerrilla marketing tactics like chalking the movie title on Manhattan walls and sidewalks.

And the importance of big names like actors Olivia Thirlby, Julie White, Peter Friedman and Andrea Martin to the success of the project.

Rohter likens “Breaking Upwards” to “Paranormal Activity.”  That indie film — also made for the price of a Hyundai Elantra — has grossed more than $100 million so far.  Coincidentally, “Paranormal” stars another Staples graduate:  Micah Sloat.

“06880″ is glad the New York Times recognizes Daryl’s talents — and shares them with the rest of the weekend Arts section crowd.  We just hope that — on his way to super-stardom — Daryl doesn’t forget the little people.

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Breaking Upwards With Daryl Wein

Posted on March 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

“An uncensored look at young love, lust, and the pangs of co-dependency.”

What more could you want in a film?

That’s the thrust of Daryl Wein’s latest production, “Breaking Upwards.” Theatrical distribution and video on demand start April 2 — but Westporters get a sneak peek at what the Staples graduate has created this Sunday (March 28, 2 p.m.) at Fairfield’s Community Theatre.

Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones. It's a scene from their movie, in which art imitates life.

Following the film, Daryl; his co-writer, association producer and Staples classmate Peter Duchan; Westport actor Toby Burns, and co-writer, co-producer Zoe Lister-Jones — who is also Daryl’s girlfriend and fellow co-dependent — will lead a Q-and-A discussion.

Anyone who knows Daryl — from his Staples Players days, to his groundbreaking “Sex Positive” film about the now-forgotten birth of the safe sex movement — understands that “Breaking Upwards” is quintessentially him.

The film loosely interprets a year in Daryl and Zoe’s lives as they explore alternatives to monogamy, the madness that ensues, and the answer to the eternal question:  “Is it ever possible to grow apart together?”

“Breaking Upwards” — which Daryl directed, co-wrote, acted in, played music for, produced and edited — won the Grand Jury Prize at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, and earned acclaim at SXSW.

It’s been called “an effortlessly hip and funny new indie flick that easily ranks among the best films about relationships.”

The wisdom and insights Daryl gained in Westport underpin the New York sensibility he brings to his work.  Calling him the Woody Allen of his 20-something generation might be a stretch.

But his career is on the rise.  He bears watching.

And Westporters can start watching on Sunday, next door in Fairfield.

(Not sure you want to see the film?  Check out the trailer — it’s very cool.  PS:  The original soundtrack is available on iTunes.)

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